The camera is for us a tool, not a pretty mechanical toy ... people think far too much about techniques and not enough about seeing.
Henri Cartier-BressonRead
Pictures, regardless of how they are created and recreated, are intended to be looked at. This brings to the forefront not the technology of imaging, which of course is important, but rather what we might call the eyenology (seeing).
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of perception over the technology used to create images.
Henri Cartier-Bresson's quote highlights that the ultimate purpose of pictures is to engage the viewer's gaze and provoke thought. While the methods and technologies of imaging are significant, the true essence lies in how we perceive and interpret what we see, suggesting that our ability to see and understand art is fundamental to its value.
Themes
ImagesPerceptionArtSeeingPhotography
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the role of art in society, one might say, 'As Henri Cartier-Bresson noted, pictures are not just about technology, but about how we engage with them.'
More from Henri Cartier-Bresson
All quotes →The most difficult thing for me is a portrait. You have to try and put your camera between the skin of a person and his shirt.
Henri Cartier-BressonRead
Photography has not changed since its origin except in its technical aspects, which for me are not important.
Henri Cartier-BressonRead
Photographier: c'est mettre sur la meme ligne de mire la tete, l'oeil et le coeur.
Henri Cartier-BressonRead
Above all, I craved to seize the whole essence, in the confines of one single photograph, of some situation that was in the process of unrolling itself before my eyes.
Henri Cartier-BressonRead
I'm not responsible for my photographs. Photography is not documentary, but intuition, a poetic experience. It's drowning yourself, dissolving yourself, and then sniff, sniff, sniff - being sensitive to coincidence. You can't go looking for it; you can't want it, or you won't get it. First you must lose your self. Then it happens.
Henri Cartier-BressonRead
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